Improved buckle



Umts STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL P. CRAFTS, OF NEV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO O. B. NORTH 85 CO., OF SAME PLACE.

IMPRovl-:D BUCKLE.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent N0. 52,112., dated January 16, 1866.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. CRAFTS, of New Haven, in the' county ot' New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Trace-Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the letters ot reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, and which said drawings constitute part ot' this specilication, and represent, in-

Figure l, a face view with the trace inserted; Fig. 2, an edge view of the same, and in Fig. 3 a central section of the same.

My invention is designed to reduce the strain upon the trace by constructing the buckle so that the strain will'come upon two holes instead ot' one, as in the ordinary buckle; and myinvention consists in constructingthe frame ot' the buckle so that the lever may be pivoted thereto outside ot' the trace, and the said lever provided with two tongues, of such form and position relatively to each other that when the said two tongues are inserted through two corresponding holes in the trace, the trace itself forms a kind of lock to prevent the accidental removal of the lever.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my improvement, I will proceed to describe the same as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

A A are the two sides of the trame of the buckle, connected at its front end by a crossbar, C, by which it is secured to the hames,

and at its rear end by a cross-bar, D, to which the holdbacks are attached. Other cross-bars, E and F, below the trace, and G, above the trace, are placed as fully seen in Figs. 1 and 3.

B is the lever, pivoted to the frame at d. To the said lever I tix or form, upon the same piece, two tongues, H and I. (See Fig. 3.) I prefer to make these two tongues curved, as seen in Fig. 3, and so arranged relatively to the cross-bars E and F that when the lever is down, as denoted in black, Fig. 3, the tongues H and I will bear against the bars E and F respectively, as seen in Fig. 3.

K is the trace. which passes freely through over the bars E, F, and C, and beneath the bars D and G, when the lever B is raised to the position denoted in red, Fig. 3. The holes in the trace should be made equidistant, and so that the two tongues H and I will enter and pass through any two ot' them. When the trace is first passed through the buckle it should be passed far enough, (that is to the position denoted in blue,) so that the tongue H may enter the hole in the trace, pressing down the lever. The tongue PI will force the trace back to the position denoted in black, the tongue I entering the next hole forward.

If the two tongues are straight, the object ot' my invention will be partially accomplished, but by the curvature given as described, and the natural tlexibility otl the trace, serves to form a back to prevent an accidental removal of the tongues. The strain upon the trace, bearing upon the tongues below the pivot B. tends to hold the lever firmly down, and the two tongues H and I, bearing respectively against the bars E and F, takes, to a great extent, the strain froin'the pivot d.

I have entitled and described my invention as an improvement in trace-buckles, yet the use of my improvement is unlimited, it being equally adapted to most places where a strong buckle is required.

I do not broadlyclaim a buckle constructed so that the lever may be placed upon the outside; but

What I do claim as new and uset'ul,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the leverB with its two tongues H and I, when constructed and arranged to operate in the manner substantially as and for the purpose specied.

SAMUEL P. CRAFTS.

/Vitnesses:

M. A. EINE, J oHN E. EARL. 

